Since the release of their acclaimed, but discreet and hardly
available debut album, Bumble Bee Eyes early last year,
Dipsomaniacs has taken some giant steps. From being the
one-man-project out of Øyvind Holm's head and heart, Dipsomaniacs has
now become a band. And when absolutely everything has improved;
song-writing, arrangements, performance and production, well...Girls
and boys: say hello to Reverb No Hollowness - The Norwegian
Album of The Year.

Drummer Arve Gulbrandsen and bass-player
Robert Skjærvik joined the band since the first LP (the trio recorded
and released the Subterfuge EP last winter), and the trio has
become a tight unit. They've performed live to rave reviews, and it
seems like some of the roughness from playing 'live' has been
successfully transferred to the recording studio and onto tape. All of
them are excellent musicians, and a perfect combination of talents it
seems. They play without exaggeration, presenting pop-realism that
shows authenticity and character, without cosmetic gobbledegook.

Øyvind Holm has written 11 pop-songs of remarkable quality. Of
course all the songs aren't elegantly moving, genius-like goddesses.
But the quality level is very high indeed. You can still hear Holm's
passion for The Beatles, at least on a couple of songs, f.i. Land
Escapes and Whatever Misery For Miles. But now I also sense
some heavier influence from Alex Chilton's (and Christopher Bell's!)
Big Star, on songs like the opening track Telly Anyway and
Infant's OK. Also the Byrds' way of arranging the harmonies
comes to mind, on one of the pearls of the album, Will I
Ever.

Lyrically Reverb No Hollowness is mostly about
sleepless nights, wondering when the misery of one's life will fade
away when "falling in" is replaced by "dropping out" of love. Holm
portrays tense melancholy, presents sweet- and sourness, and describes
disharmony and nagging thoughts. Themes that maybe match the feelings
Øyvind Holm describes he felt while being in the midst of the
song-creating process: "Carrying 11 half-written tunes in your head at
once, is probably a lot similar to hearing inner voices." (Ø.H. - from
the insert sheet)

Absolute and ultimate favourites from
Reverb No Hollowness: The calm and majestic ...Space Not
Mind, one of the most beautiful songs ever written by a
Norwegian artist - floating on a mellotron-veil, steered by great
vocals and the most accurately plucking guitar. Followed by the song
In My Mind, which is Dipsomaniacs from their roughest side.
Noisy guitars, staccato rhythms, and a tight-rope bumble-bee bass.
Smashing!

Well, the Dipsomaniacs still play around the lo-fi
league, and will probably never reach promotion to the big league when
it comes to drawing the biggest home crowds. But this time they've
reached halfway to hi-fi, which, I guess, is the closest the Dipsos
ever will get to a higher fi. Most important; the "good-fi" presented
on Reverb No Hollowness suits the music very well (despite some
annoying distortion along the grooves of my vinyl copy; intended or
what?), and if the world was sane they should've sold a bit more than
a decent number of records. No hollowness, just sincerity. Excellent
pop music. Buy this record! Right now!